Homefront: Municipalities Should Seize Opportunity To Regulate Medical Marijuana

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By Sean Dalton

 

 

Last week the Dexter Village Council made a very wise decision regarding medical marijuana dispensaries: they decided to get with surrounding townships for a regional approach to regulation.

 

It was an idea taken from what the city of Holland is doing with its neighboring townships, and after doing some research and thinking on the matter, regional regulation strikes me as the best approach.

 

It's certainly better than banning medical marijuana outright. Set aside for a moment the arguments over state's rights and think of the moral implications.

 

While some of the characters eager to dish medicinal marijuana out to patients are a bit "out there" due to their insistence on infusing this struggle with already established recreational pot culture, the folks who have the go-ahead to use medical marijuana from their legitimate physicians are just normal people.

 

I can understand the desire to seek alternatives to traditional pain medications now that I receive regular prescriptions for Vicodin and other pain relievers after an automobile accident late last year.

 

My long-term alternative to pain medications, which sometimes make me ill, is physical therapy.

 

Unfortunately someone with cancer can't just lie down on an exercise mat and do stretches and sit-ups.

 

The thought of having to take Vicodin for the rest of my life is terrifying. The thought of not having a legal alternative from Vicodin, which clouds my mind and wrenches my gut, compounds that feeling.

 

My expectation back in 2008 when Michigan voters said "yes" to medical marijuana was that forward thinking communities would pull together with law enforcement and be there to help legitimate outfits thrive and dominate the marketplace - crowding out crooked operators.

 

Not nearly enough local governments have lived up to that expectation. Sometimes when I talk about this with local officials or attend a meeting I get the feeling that some folks aren't separating banning medical marijuana from the idea of eradicating illegal selling and recreational use of marijuana full stop.

 

Despite the good job local police do keeping narcotics cases out of the newspapers, there are people in Washtenaw County selling and using marijuana illegally, and they'll continue to do so regardless of dispensaries.

 

Luckily Dexter village and the townships of Lima, Dexter, Scio and Webster can begin having a broad discussion on the topic.

 

It doesn't make sense to put regulation in place in the village only to have one or more townships pass conflicting regulation or none at all.

 

In the village's case, officials want to keep dispensaries away from schools and out of the downtown district.

 

What if a gas station or party store on the outskirts of the village started operating as a dispensary?

 

They need to go somewhere, because despite what federal law says, the voters of Michigan said "yes" on this matter.

 

Municipalities can either take this opportunity to help legitimize something that by all rights should be legitimate and permissible in Washtenaw County, or they can sit on their hands and wait for the lawsuits ... for the opportunity to exert positive influence on the future medical marijuana cottage industry is out of reach.

 

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